Reuters Expands US Mobile Phone News Services

Reuters has expanded its mobile news service offering cell phone users a subscription service for breaking news alerts, a free WAP site giving access to the day's biggest news stories, and a 'mobile storefront' at www.reuters.com/mobile allowing people to download a selection of Reuters photos as wallpapers and get a free Reuters-branded ring tone.

The breaking news alerts subscription service is available at $2.99 per month for 2-3 SMS breaking news alerts per week. People can sign up for the service at www.reuters.com/mobile by entering their mobile number, or by texting the keyword NWS to the Reuters shortcode, 2KNOW (25669).

The WAP site, accessed on handset browsers by typing in mobile.reuters.com, allows users to browse for free the top news stories in five categories - Top News, Sports, Entertainment, Business and Oddly Enough. At the Reuters mobile storefront, www.reuters.com/mobile, photos are available for purchase as wallpaper at $2 per download and the Reuters ring tone is available at no charge. Charges for the alert service and wallpaper downloads appear on the customer's wireless phone bill. The site also offers visitors the ability to sign up for the new Reuters mobile breaking news alerts service.

The WAP site, alerting capability, and mobile storefront were all built by m-Qube www.m-qube.com.

Stephen Smyth, Vice President of Reuters Media, said, "Mobile phone users are increasingly relying on their handsets for up to the minute news and information and as a real time news provider Reuters is well placed to offer this. Giving customers the ability to select the content they are most interested in and get it in a format that works best for them is key, and this is why we are creating a range of different services and download options." Andy Miller, SVP, General Manager, Media of m-Qube, added, "The wireless channel has proven to be a key outlet for reaching consumers and empowering them to customize their mobile phone content to reflect their personal interests. We're very pleased to be working with Reuters to do just that in offering their customers additional value-added news services via their mobile phones. We believe this initiative will benefit Reuters, its customers and our wireless carrier partners." Ends.

REUTERS CONTACT: